House al Malik

Living apart from the people they rule, the nobles of al-Marik are the least accessible and most rarely encountered of all the Houses. They keep an air of distance about them and speak in elegant metaphors that only other al-Marik can understand.

House al-Marik maintains strong ties with the Merchant League, and there are rumours that it bought its position as a Royal House from its banking and trade interests. Nonetheless, House al-Marik can usually count on League support in its ventures, and their mansions are filled with technological wonders. Some even carry personal think machines, which they cryptically call ‘computers’.

This connection has attracted no small amount of interest from the Inquisition, and the House has been the subject of many investigations. However, aside from a few reprimands aimed at low-level nobles, no official accusation has ever been made, and there are dark rumours of House al-Marik paying its tithe directly to the Inquisition.

Nobles of House al-Marik tend to be passionate and flashy in disposition, owning priceless technological devices and throwing wild parties. They are extensively educated, though lacking in the raw combat skills of other Houses. They tend to harken to latter day Second Republic socialist philosophies, though they are also ardent capitalists, and it is said they are working toward a better world, the Utopian Third Republic – utter heresy, but rumours persist of this goal being advanced by the League.